LETTERS: NCT, May 24, 2011

Readers of the North County Times - letters@nctimes.com

Paving the way for strip malls and condos

The arrogance displayed by Oceanside City Council members JerryKern, Gary Felien and Jack Feller, while destroying lives on May18, turns my stomach. After listening to pleas from theirconstituents, a vehement display of incredulity from CouncilmemberEsther Sanchez and extremely rational reasons for no votes fromMayor Jim Wood, Kern chastised mobile-home owners for theirinability to compromise, while giving no chance for compromise, andcalled for a positive vote to eliminate rent control by passingvacancy decontrol, even though the Supreme Court has ruled in favorof rent control ordinances.

Their vote undermines the security of every mobile-home owner in
Oceanside — seniors, vets, and families — by allowing a handful of
absentee mobile-home park owners to acquire high space rent,
unsalable mobile homes for nothing. Many pleas requested time,
before the vote, to reach an equitable solution for both homeowners
and park owners, but they, along with Ms. Sanchez and Mayor Wood,
were slapped down by Mr. Kern.

The obvious compromise would have been a cap on rent increases,
but it was never discussed. Look out, Oceanside: This vote is among
the first to eliminate personal property to make way for corporate
greed, and no one is exempt.

Bonnie Wright

Oceanside

Oppose legislation that puts our health at
risk

Join with the League of Women Voters and leading environmentaland health protection groups to urge our North County congressionalrepresentatives to oppose H.R. 910, introduced by Rep. (R-MI). Thisreckless, short-sighted legislation puts our health at risk bygutting the Clean Air Act, overturning a decision of the SupremeCourt, repealing the Environmental Protection Agency'sscience-based endangerment finding and dismantling the EPA'sability to address life-threatening carbon dioxide and otherpollution.

Californians have long led the way on environmental issues.Don't let our elected representatives in Congress wantonlydismantle the needed protections of the Clean Air Act.

Margaret Dornish

co-president, North Coast League of Women Voters

Carlsbad

The 'sanctity of propagation'

In "Consequences in life"
(Community Voices, May 11)
, Richard Cole stated that I"conveniently" forgot to explain development of zygote toblastocyst. Owing to the word limit, I deliberately omitteddiscussing this and other phases of development, referring only tonon-viable fetal tissue as potential humans.

I also didn't note that "the moment of conception" is not an
event; rather, conception is a process requiring several hours to
complete. Regardless, conception marks the beginning of one or more
potential human beings.

Regarding my reference to the millions of deaths annually by
spontaneous abortion, miscarriage and stillbirth, Cole said: "God's
not condemning them to premature death; people like John are with
his 'dehumanizing' nonsense about their consciousness."

There are two problems here. First, I made no reference to
consciousness. Second, even if I wanted to take credit for this
carnage, I couldn't in good conscience do so. The carnage is, and
always has been, an integral part of mankind's existence. I'll tell
you what is dehumanizing: the pro-life belief that an unwanted
child is appropriate punishment for an unintended pregnancy.
Pro-lifers don't give a (expletive) about the child's welfare.
Pro-life's "sanctity of life," as practiced, is only "sanctity of
propagation."

John Terrell

Fallbrook

Hypocritical KFF pact

All these years on the City Council, Jack Feller has acted like
he cares about the senior citizens in this community. He has come
to our functions, eating and drinking with us. Jack Feller has
acted like he cares about the veterans in this community, attending
functions honoring those who fought for our country.

Jack Feller states he is a Christian man. What I saw before me
at the May 18 City Council meeting was not a Christian, but a
Pharisee. The City Council chambers was a modern-day Sanhedrin. In
a modern-day parallel, the Jerry Kern-Gary Felien-Jack Feller pact
could be likened to tombs that had been painted with whitewash and
looked very beautiful on the outside, but in reality, they were
like graves full of dead men's bones — not beautiful at all.

Kern, Felien and Feller act like they have concern for the
senior citizens and veterans, but they really do not respect or
care about others. We call such people hypocrites. The scabs have
fallen from our eyes and we have seen the truth. Mr. Feller may as
well start packing up his things now, because this will be his last
term. In fact, I can bring him the boxes.

Before the 2008 election, didn't I implore all Jews not to vote
for Barack Obama, reasoning that he is no friend of Israel and the
Jews and just pandering to us for the votes? The chickens have come
home to roost.

"Our friend" demanded Israel to go back to the 1967 borders to
accommodate his "darlings," the Palestinians. I know there are some
among us who will once again vote for President Obama and put their
heads on the guillotine in 2012, and Obama will hand our headless
body to our sworn enemy.

A vote for Obama is a vote against Israel and the Jews
everywhere. Wake up, the clock ticketh away.

Phil Epstein

Carlsbad

What could have happened to Hitler

On
May 17
, writer G. Lewis Beitner Sr. of San Marcos asked thefollowing question: Would Hitler have gotten a funeral?

In response to that question: Adolf Hitler was a monster and a
coward. If he had not killed himself and he could have been caught
alive, he should have been put in the gas chamber and then
cremated. His ashes could then have been flushed down the
toilet.

Nancy DeBruin

Oceanside

Sensible alternatives

Last time Jerry Brown was governor (when Proposition 13 passed)and there was an adverse impact on state revenue, the reaction wasto reduce safety services and education (as well as raising fees toattend state colleges and the university).

Well, we're back to the same drawing board now. We hear that it
costs about $40,000 to incarcerate prisoners; we're told that we
are spending vast sums educating and giving preferential rates to
illegals in the country. Wouldn't it make more sense to:

If forced to reduce operating costs, shouldn't we first protect
and preserve our own citizens? I understand the game of "punishing"
the voters by hitting them where they live, but it nevertheless
makes me mad as hell when there are sensible alternatives.

Daniel Lynch
(May 20)
lynched the wrong president when he said the man whoset in place all the groundwork for Osama bin Laden's demise(George W. Bush) didn't deserve credit. It is that internationalcoward, Barack Obama, who is the recipient of unwarranted praisefrom the uber-left Joy Behars of the world, and of course, thebought-and-paid-for mainstream media.

Getting to the point, what possible choice did B.O. have? Theintelligence operations of the CIA had discovered Osama'swhereabouts, and to not go and get him would have been politicalsuicide for this poor incompetent boy-president. He was left withno options to cave because too many people knew the facts, and ifyou must credit Obama with anything, it's the same low-class, slimypolitical instincts that Bill Clinton had. He couldn't have liedhis way out of this, like he has almost everything else in hisadministration, from "earmarks" to "health care."

George W. Bush rid the world of an ignominious tyrant — SaddamHussein, put the Taliban and al-Qaida on the run — not only inAfghanistan and Pakistan, but all over the world — and kept thiscountry free of any acts of terrorism through some difficult years.Obama has only ridden on his coattails.

Richard Cole

Encinitas

Mobile-home owners are not the whiners

In reponse to Larry Barry of Oceanside's letter
(May 20)
: Mr. Barry is misinformed. When we purchased ourmobile home, we knew that it would not appreciate the way that aregular home does, so we knew that when it came time to sell it, wewould not make a profit on it. This being true, we do not want togive it away, either.

Yes, many of us are on Social Security and Medicare. Many of usare on Social Security only. We have to buy a Medicare supplementplan because Medicare does not pay for everything.

Many of us have to pay property taxes on our mobile homes, so we
are not getting this "sweet deal" that he talks about.

Try living on Social Security alone and pay taxes and rent, and
try to eat well to maintain good health. I think Barry is the
whiner, not us.

I had to go up north to visit a sick friend. I pulled into a gas
station in San Marcos. Two CalTrans service trucks and six hard-hat
workers were gathered together gabbing.

I went into the station, paid for my gas, visited the restroom,
then returned to my car, filled the tank, then washed the
windshield and rear window. The two trucks and six hard-hats were
still standing in a group gabbing. Coffee break? Doubt it — not a
coffee cup in sight.

Have you ever seen two UPS or Fedex trucks parked and thedrivers gabbing? Not on your life. Why? UPS and Fedex are makingmoney. One more reason why the state is going bankrupt.

G. Lewis Beitner Sr.

San Marcos

The fundamental truth of Christianity

This letter is a response to Clay Northcote's letter,
May 17
, "The fundamental flaw of Christianity." To begin, it isnot Christianity that is flawed, but rather Clay's inaccuratestatements concerning Christianity that are fundamentally flawed....

He inaccurately states that humans are by nature "bad." The
first chapter of the first book of the Bible, Genesis, states that
all of creation was created good and that man, created in God's
divine image, was created very good. ...

Concerning religious leaders (priests and ministers); 98 percent
are good, faithful, loving, servants of God who dedicate their
lives in service to God and his people. ...

Northcote's misrepresentation of Christianity does nothing to
advance the dialogue between believers and non-believers.

Nick Lucia

Escondido

Bring back the draft

So troop morale is low in Afghanistan. Why ought we to expect
otherwise? A tiny percentage of U.S. citizens, our valiant
servicemen and women, carry by themselves the enormous burden of
keeping us all free. They worry about roadside bombs; we fret about
gasoline prices and whimper about food prices.

When, if ever, will all of us step up to the plate and also be
at war? Only by restoring Selective Service, i.e., the draft, will
that happen. At that time, America will truly support her fighting
men and women. Only then will we end our guilt for abusing those
who serve, e.g., through what seems like never-ending additional
deployments and sacrifice.

The draft is certainly unpopular, but oh, so democratic. Only
then will we all be truly involved in the preservation of freedoms
we otherwise tend to take for granted.